1st Life Paladin Help

[BlueLiger]

Hi All,

Never played a Paladin and needing to help guildmate with a 32pt build, 1st Life Human Pure Paladin going Bastardsword and Board and wanting a bit more punch. Does anyone have a build that would fit this or I could use to help guide them. They currently have all content bar Feywild and Saltmarsh though the latter won't matter to much for gear

[C-Dog]

Easy - however, before addressing the question, your friend should know that any "sword and board" build trades a lot of damage for a little more survivability - that is, it kills stuff VERY slowly, and in the current game slow killers are never as strong as fast ones, almost regardless of survivability.

2-hand weapons are recommended - much more DPS, more fun, all around better.

Here's a recent submission (with the start of a discussion) - https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...ginner-paladin

Here's a fuller discussion comparing the two styles:
o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post6256084

Now, you could take that AP spread and do a sword-and-board - pretty simple to swap the feats.

Here's a classic build, solid but 5 years old; the Feats are good for S&B, but without looking, check the AP's against the modern one (top).

o https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post5765403

[BlueLiger]

Would a 17 Pal 3 Fighter Split be better for the build?

[unbongwah]

Would a 17 Pal 3 Fighter Split be better for the build?

Why that split? Extra feats are nice, but you cannot stack defensive stances from Stalwart and Sacred Defender. And if you're a S&B build, you really want the last two Vanguard core enhancements which are only available to fighter or paladin 20 builds:

• Vicious Shield II: Shield gains +1 critical threat range, +1 critical multiplier, +1(W), and additional +5% (total 15%) Combat Style bonus to Melee Attack Speed.
• Shield Champion: While shield is equipped: +2 attack, +2 damage, +5% doublestrike, +1(W) to your shield, an additional +5% (total 20%) Combat Style bonus to Melee Attack Speed, and shield bash stuns 10% of the time DC (10 + 1/2 Character lvl + strength modifier + stun bonus)

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

You could take a look at the Pawn Brokers, they sometimes have good random gear (look out for teal coloured item borders !). Use Charisma + Haggle items to lower that price (Charisma is also important for turning undead ones).

[C-Dog]

Would a 17 Pal 3 Fighter Split be better for the build?

In any build decision, the key question is "If I change X, am I gaining more than I'm losing?".

In DDO, one of the biggest build considerations is Enhancements (something that does not exist in D&D). Most Classes have 3 trees to choose from, and each tree has both Tiers (I-V), and the Cores, which are (typically) more powerful.

By suggesting Fighter 3, I'm guessing you're looking at one of the Tier 3 Fighter enhancements - but what about the Paladin Core 18 and 20 enhancements you're losing?

Cores are gated at Level 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 20, with (usually) the best at the highest level. So, many (but not all) classes want "pure" to get that Level 20 core (aka the "capstone"), but some Core 20 Enhancements are not so great that they are "must have", and this opens the door to multi-classing. If the Core 18 is a "must have", then you only have 2* other levels to play with; if you can live with just the Core 12, then you can grab a Core 6 from another class, or 2 Core 3's from 2 other classes to balance the loss of the Core 18/20, etc.

(* It can also be important to consider whether the build is designed to go to 30 (so at least half the questing will be done after all 20 levels are in place), or designed to live at 20(+) for a while (for Heroic farming, for instance), or to get to 20 and TR/RR asap. If that last, then, practically speaking, it's just an "18-level" build, since you get to 18, bank 19 & 20, and then take 20 and do your Reincarnation, and those last 2 levels never see a significant amount of play time. All considerations for a build.)

To truly "understand" how to create a strong, well-designed DDO build, you have to have a solid grasp of all the trees that could be used, to pick and choose, mix and match, find the synergies and avoid the wasted effort. For Paladins, start by looking at their 3 trees (cores and tiers) in the Wiki - https://ddowiki.com/page/Enhancements. It's a long process, don't expect it all to make sense overnight, or even this month. GL!

[Enderoc]

Honestly if you wanted a high AC self healing build you would go 14 cleric with protection Domain 6 Fighter...with shield and armor feats and use blunt weapons to get improved critical with both weapon and shield. Would go Radiant Servant...high Charisma for intimidate...
I mean it would be horrible by itself but in a group would be a protective holy symbol for the entire party.
When not solo mobbed or tanking I would probably swing a Maul around. That would make it not so horrible so I would do it like this.
5 shield feats
2 Armor Feats
3 THF feats
Improved Critical Bludgeoning
That's feats up to level 20...base 7. 1 human. 3 fighter
14 cleric is for radiant force field and AC bonuses from protection domain
Super High AC. PRR, MRR, Chance to Negate Elemental Damage...Can play offense or Defense while being a fountain of healing. Not bad at all...